Sage of Six
by D-Tos
Summary: "You must regain something you have long since lost." they said, then he woke up years backwards in time. Well, Jak wasn't one to waste a good opportunity. Orbs, artifacts, new friends, and he always had wanted to learn a bit more about Eco. Jak's collecting every advantage he can, and the future will never be the same. Whether the Precursors like it or not.
1. Reunion

Disclaimer: Shockingly enough, I don't own the Jak & Daxter series.

Chapter One

Reunion

"Damas, you need to come down here and see this." His head mechanic's voice crackling over the communicator disturbed the king from his maps. The actions of the metal heads and even the marauders had been unusual of late, and he was hoping that tracking their movements would give him some insight into what was going on. Scowling at the distraction Damas snatched up the device and hit the switch to transmit his voice. "What is it Kleiver? I'm busy!" he barked back.

"Wish I knew."

That gave Damas pause, the communicator wasn't perfectly clear at the best of times, but he could swear he heard actual confusion in the man's voice. "I'll be there in five minutes." he finally replied after a moment's consideration, grabbing up his staff and heading out. Something strange enough for the man to call him down to see it personally could be related to his research. "I'm in the control room." Came a final message from Kleiver, giving Damas his destination.

~SoS~

The Spargus control room was situated right next to the garage, and filled with monitors alongside Kleiver's tools and personal effects, the large man pretty much lived here thanks to the convenience for access to his vehicles and the monitors themselves, his primary duty to the city alongside making sure the vehicles were in working order.

At the moment though, the man was simply staring at one specific screen, Damas recognized it as the one observing directly outside the main gate. "What did you call me down here for?" he demanded when the man made no move to explain himself upon the king's entry. Kleiver's head whipped around, apparently startled, before pointing back to the screen he'd been watching.

Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be a marauder vehicle parked outside of the gate. Even more unusually, a man stood in front of it, wearing typical protective clothing like his wastelanders, not the spike adorned leathers and iron of the marauders, and his head was wrapped up in a scarf, hiding his identity. It was unusual to be sure, but there was nothing stopping marauders from dressing a bit more, normally. What was odd, was the man appeared to be staring directly into the camera, a nearly impossible feat as the outer cameras were concealed and nearly impossible to spot without knowing where they were.

"He pulled up about an hour ago, and hasn't moved hardly at all since." Damas frowned, that was indeed unusual. Marauders usually avoided Spargus unless they came in droves or were chasing a wastelander. You never saw them just pull up to the gate, and to stand out there for an hour? He peered closer, as if he could identify the man just by getting closer to the screen, only to blink in surprise when the man twitched, moving for the first time since he'd entered the room to look more directly into the camera. A moment later, the man's right hand rose into the air, holding something out towards the camera.

Kleiver seemed surprised by the sudden movement, but quickly adjusted the camera for a closer look. Evidently he'd been keeping it zoomed out to keep a wide view on the area. Presumably in case this was a distraction of some kind. Damas' eyes widened as the object became clear, and he heard a sharp intake of breath from his side. "Is that..." The large mechanic began to ask, but Damas was already out the door, barking into his communicator and broadcasting across the entire city. "I want thirty wastelanders in the garage in twenty seconds! Move!"

~SoS~

Less than a minute later, Damas stood in the center of the garage, at least fifty wastelanders standing before him, spread out around the area, all facing the massive gate with weapons in hand. A call of "Weapons ready!" and every man and woman there had their guns pointed towards the gate, ready for whatever was out there. Damas couldn't help but smile at the loyalty his people displayed for so many to arrive, ready and willing at such short notice. But, as he turned around to face the gate his smile twisted into a scowl. "Open the gate." he growled into his communicator, and the gate obediently slid open moments later.

Strangely enough, the man was nowhere to be seen. The mystery of where he went didn't last long however, as the marauder buggy's engine roared to life, and the vehicle slowly, almost cautiously, pulled forward and into the garage, before the engine cut off just beyond the gate. "Close it." Damas muttered into his com, the gate sliding shut once more.

"Show yourself!" He called out, and a panel on the vehicle slid open, the man from before climbing out, moving with such agility he could be mistaken for flowing water and simply standing beside his vehicle. Seen close up, the man was small in stature, standing far shorter than anyone else present and thin too, but his build was clearly athletic, and Damas suspected the small frame held far more strength than his appearance would suggest. Further inspection wasn't possible though, as the man still wore his scarf as a mask, including a pair of goggles over his eyes, presumably to protect from the desert winds.

"Identify yourself." Rather than answering the growled command, the man reached into his pocket and drew out the same object from before, holding it up for all to see. Damas could hear gaps and surprised muttering all around him as the wastelanders realized exactly why they had been assembled so quickly. The object was very clearly the seal of Mar, symbol of the king's own household.

"Where did you get that?" Damas snapped, stepping forward and snatching the relic from the man's hand, the man evidently letting him do it, as he made no move to resist, and slowly lowered his arm. "I think you know where." The man's voice was muffled by his scarf, but the words were enough to ignite the king's rage nonetheless as he lurched forward, grabbing him by the collar with his empty hand and lifting him nearly off his feet.

"Where is my son you marauder trash?!" he snarled, ignoring the renewed gasps that arose from his followers. "I may drive one of their vehicles, but that does not make me one of them." The man's voice was calm, incredibly so for his current situation, but firm, showing an evident displeasure at being associated with the marauders. Not to be dissuaded Damas tightened his grip all the more, only to be surprised as the man raised his own hand, slowly, calmly, and grasped Damas by the wrist with a shockingly strong, yet somehow gentle grip, and pulled his hand away.

Without taking his eyes off the stunned king, the man rapped his knuckles gently on the side of his buggy. A moment later, a head appeared in the space the man had climbed through earlier, and the man turned and extracted a child, setting him gently on the ground before a speechless Damas. The child, was none other than his son!

Collapsing to his knees amidst yet another bevy of gasps and whisperings, Damas drew the child, Mar, into his arms for the first time in over a year, whispering words of joy and encouragement that even he couldn't hear, unable to hold back tears of relief and joy as he felt the boy's small arms attempt to encircle him in return.

After a few precious moments embracing his son, he looked back up towards the man that had brought him home, only to stop in shock once more. The man, no, the boy had removed his scarf and goggles, revealing the face of a child, he could be no more than sixteen years old, yet there he stood with a serene, if strangely longing smile as he watched the two embrace. "Who are you?" Damas found himself asking.

"That," The boy spoke, and Damas wondered how he could have missed the youthful voice, even muffled by his scarf. The boy smiled wryly, raising his right hand once more, and Damas blinked in surprise as the seal of Mar leapt from his hand, through the air and back into that of the boy, where it began to glow a deep eco red. "Is a very long story."


	2. Recap

This was originally the first chapter, but I enjoyed the other one so much that I had to write it early, and ended up feeling like it made a really good first chapter as well. Eventually I decided to post it instead because this one wasn't nearly as fun to do up, despite being fairly necessary to the story. Made reading reviews a bit amusing to be honest.

I've decided to work this story on a buffer system to try and keep me writing fairly consistently, so I'll be trying to keep a one chapter buffer, which means I'll only post a chapter if I have at least one more pretty much finished

Chapter Two

As Jak and Daxter walked away from that exploding Dark Maker Terraformer the world breathed a sigh of relief. Or at least those that knew what was happening and what it meant did. But for all the difference it truly made, preventing perhaps not the destruction of the world, - Errol was far too delusional to pull that off - but definitely a much longer harder war, it didn't seem to make much difference. Jak didn't tell anyone about his new found origins, and none of his friends or the Underground cum Freedom League who knew were about to tell anyone. So with no heir apparent, Sig, showing himself to be the strongest warrior and leader in a city of nothing but, was crowned the new king of Spargus, while Ashelin returned to Haven and quickly established a power base, Veger's treachery giving her the foothold she needed to put down any opposition from the so called lords of the council and take her place as ruler. She didn't claim the title of Queen, but it appeared she planned to establish a similar method of government, and simply hadn't chosen the right name for it yet. Interestingly Sig had actually offered Jak the position before he accepted it, only to be turned down. Ashelin, well, he couldn't fault her for what she didn't know.

Spargus and Haven were well off, if still plagued by marauders and the remaining metal heads and KG war machines, though the latter two at least seemed to be coming quickly under control. The world it seemed, had finally achieved some form of, not peace, but an order to things. A consistent level point that seemed content to hold indefinitely. Life in the cities returned to what it had been before Haven had devolved into open war, before the Dark Makers landed in the wasteland, or had even been heard of by the average person. And the average person, they returned to life like it all had never happened, taking up their jobs, families, and simply living their lives, never thinking of what it took to achieve this lesser peace.

And what of Jak? He quickly faded into obscurity. Never one to brag, and uncaring of politics, he kept quiet about his lineage. Daxter may have told the true story now and again, especially that of his own new found connections to the ancient Precursors. But, with Daxter's well known penchant for exaggerating, and even making up stories, and the fact that the ottsels themselves never came forward to anyone but the duo to give their thanks, the story was dismissed as just another of his tall tales anyways.

Jak chuckled, hiding a small grin behind a glass of some alcohol or other that had been dropped in front of him as soon as he'd sat down as Daxter finished telling that exact story yet again, spinning his small body around to show off his brand new pair of ottsel sized and shaped denim jeans. After all these years, and countless offhand comments about how he missed his original body, when he'd been offered a single wish by what claimed to be the most powerful being in the universe, – Though considering that little sideshow in the robot at the planet's core, Jak had his doubts. - he hadn't asked for his human body, but a simple pair of pants. Okay, he'd actually asked for a "Snazzy" pair of pants, but the fact remained, and the ottsel was certainly unduly proud of his new accessory too.

Jak frowned, swirling his glass as that line of thought processed. The Precursors had offered him a wish too, but he'd declined, not willing to hope, and have that hope dashed if, when, he found out that the ottsel's little magic staff couldn't... Wasn't quite as powerful as advertised. Grimacing to himself, Jak slammed down the last of his drink and dropped the glass on the table before leaving the bar. Drinking wasn't helping his mood, and Daxter's stories were just drawing him back to topics best left behind. He didn't do well with things that he couldn't fix, and for the time being, it was better to not be reminded of them.

Crossing the street, he leaned against the concrete barrier between the streets and the water of the port, simply gazing across the water. At night, you could almost forget that the water was trapped within those massive walls, full of pollution from the industrial sector drainage pipes pouring directly into the walled in corner of ocean. He almost imagined he could smell a fresh sea breeze wafting over the sector, but it was quickly covered by the city's ambient scent of burning eco and waste. At least out in Spargus, as harsh as the wasteland was, it was pure, not the cesspit that Haven seemed determined to remain.

A light behind him prompted Jak to turn his head, thinking Daxter must have noticed his absence and come out to see what was up. Instead, he came face to face with what he'd once thought to be a Precursor ghost, but now understood to be a simple manifestation generated to mask their true form from the world. Scowling, Jak turned back to the water. "Go away. I'm done doing your dirty work." he muttered, unable, or perhaps unwilling, to draw up the emotional energy to put actual force into the words.

"Oh, you're far from done Jak. Or should I call you Mar? That is your real name, is it not?" the projection replied, circling around him to hover just to his right, not quite face to face, but close enough to make clear that it wouldn't be leaving any time soon. Jak in turn fixed his gaze forwards, refusing to give the rodents the satisfaction of facing their stupid mask directly, as if it were real at all. "Ah but I am real." Jak's head spun to face the glowing projection after all, shock clear on his face. Of all the things he'd seen, he could not recall the ottsels reading minds. "That is because they cannot. Really Mar, you of all people should know better than to take an ottsel at it's word."

The ghost, because what else could it be, it certainly wasn't being controlled by them to utter a statement like that; received a glare for that line. "His word." Jak growled, the familiar feeling of eco crackling under his skin rising with his irritation. "Daxter is not an animal, and I trust him far more than I do you."

"Of course." the ghost replied, and wouldn't you know Jak couldn't tell whether it was meant to be calming or condescending? "But we are getting off track. You have much more to accomplish Mar. Yo-" Jak raised his hand, cutting the being off there. "It's Jak. I've never been Mar, and nobody will ever know I ever was." The being paused at that, looking almost skeptical, for what little expression could be seen on it's face. "Very well, Jak. Your adventures are far from complete. However, before they can begin, you must regain something you have long since lost."

"And what would that be?" Jak scoffed, still unwilling to play the precursor's pawn again. "You'll know soon enough." the ghost replied, and in an instant was gone. Jak scoffed again, of course it would vanish without actually telling him anything. Favorite trick of the precursors, throw out a bunch of cryptic warnings then vanish without explaining anything, then when everything's over, claim you planned it all along!

Shaking his head, Jak decided to ignore it all for now. He certainly wasn't going to take off searching for something he'd lost, whatever that meant. Instead, he climbed onto one of the crenelations of the wall and laid down, closing his eyes. He'd just take a nap, and wait for Daxter to finish inside. Then, they'd figure out what to do next together.


	3. Return

Chapter Three

"What's wrong Jak, my stories so boring you have to off and go to sleep?" Jak was stirred back to wakefulness by the familiar voice of his closest friend, apparently done chatting up the bar and come to collect him. Waving one hand in a placating gesture, Jak sat up, giving a yawn and stretching, not expecting the ground under him to shift and a splash of water to hit his face. "Careful man, you'll tip the boat!" Boat? Jak opened his eyes, looking around incredulously. How had he ended up on a boat? And by the looks of things, they were nowhere near Haven anymore either, there were no walls in sight.

"Okay, maybe not tip." Daxter kept talking, rambling as usual. Jak turned towards him, thinking that maybe his friend would actually tell him what was going on, only to freeze in shock. "But you jerking around does make it a lot harder to steer this tub!" The young man finished, waving his very human hands towards the boat in a very Daxter gesture. He looked exactly like he remembered him, before his little dip in the eco silo, sitting there manning the rudder like nothing was unusual at all. Come to think of it, this looked an awful lot like the fisherman's boat too.

"No, that's fine, don't say anything." Daxter continued, evidently oblivious to Jak's mounting shock. "We both know the truth, you'd rather go punch a yakkow or something than listen to boring old Daxter." Jak opened his mouth, not sure what to say but ready to try, only to be cut off again. "It's fine, we're here anyway." And sure enough, Daxter cut the engine and a moment later the boat ground it's way up onto a beach. Jak slowly turned, fairly certain of what he was going to see, but still hoping to somehow be wrong. But, sure enough, before his eyes lay the massive bone littered beach of none other than Misty Island, a location he was fairly sure no longer existed, or had at the very least been overtaken by Haven's expansion. It certainly shouldn't have looked almost exactly as he remembered it.

Climbing out of the boat, Jak walked up the beach, eyes panning around over increasingly familiar scenery. When the Precursor had said he needed something he'd lost long ago, was this what he'd meant? Had he really been thrown back in time? Behind him, he heard sand and gravel scatter as Daxter hurried to catch up. "Uh, Jak?" Jak turned towards the other, only to see him duck behind one of the large bones. "Old green stuff told us not to come here."

Jak rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. It was typical of him back then to suggest an outing like this only to chicken out right on arrival. And he had suggested it. Shaking his head, Jak turned to keep walking, only to still and look back at Daxter again. At Daxter, in his original human form. Something he'd lost... What could he have lost so permanently that the Precursors resorted to time travel, and specifically sent him to this exact point in time? The answer could only be Daxter's body, though why his human form would be so important to their "Grand plan" he had no idea.

Still, this was a chance to prevent the accident from ever happening, let his best friend live a normal life. Comfortable as he'd become with his ottsel form, he knew it had to grate on the boy to be stuck in an animal's body. Turning fully, Jak raised a hand, about to suggest they call it quits and go home, when Daxter apparently steeled himself and stepped out from his sheltered position. "No, you're right Jak, we came this far, let's check it out!"

Gaping, Jak gestured towards the boat. Did Daxter really not want to leave now? He knew even back then most of his cowardice was an act, but still! "Oh come on Jak, don't you chicken out on me now!" And then Daxter was strolling past him like he owned the place, headed inland. Palming his face, Jak suppressed a groan before turning and jogging to catch up, retaking the lead before Daxter could alert any lurkers guarding the area.

As the duo traversed the island, Jak couldn't help but wonder where all the lurkers were, he'd fought his way through the island enough times to know you couldn't go hardly more than ten feet without running into one. It was only when they turned a corner and came upon a massive group of lurkers that he remembered. Grabbing Daxter he pulled them behind a short cliff, out of sight in case any turned around.

Signaling Daxter to stay quiet, Jak pulled himself up the natural wall to peek over the top, joined a moment later by his friend, who he once more motioned to silence. The lurkers were, just as he remembered, gathered before the steps leading into the island's largest eco silo. The cannons were silent for the time being, as he suspected every lurker on the island was in attendance, all staring straight ahead at the precursor door, waiting for their masters to appear.

They didn't have to wait long either, as the dark twins appeared only a few seconds later, a burst of eco appearing on the stage like threshold, only to vanish nigh instantly and leave the two behind. Jak frowned in thought for a moment at that. Of all the sages, precursor devices, dark eco tainted creatures, and other such things he'd met, he'd never met anyone who could teleport themselves across massive distances unassisted except the Acherons. Was it something they had discovered in their studies of dark eco? Except the teleporter rings he'd seen were all powered by blue.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Daxter yanking on his sleeve. Having gotten his attention, Daxter pointed towards the ground, implying they should climb down. A glance back to the crowd told him he'd managed to miss the entire speech, or was it orders? And the Acherons were already gone. Not that it mattered much, he'd never forget the first time. Nodding, he carefully climbed back down, Daxter opting to simply let go instead, knocking a few stones loose in the process.

Before Jak could do or say anything, Daxter shushed him, as if he'd been the one to make the noise, and walked away, heading down the familiar path that Jak knew lead to the other entrance to the silo. Resigning himself, he followed along, keeping an eye out out any lurkers. It seemed Daxter was determined to prove himself now, and he was just going to have to make sure nothing happened. The only thing likely to get Daxter away was to speak, and now that he'd had some time to get used to being back here, well, speaking now was likely to just freak Daxter out. He'd just have to make sure he didn't fall into that eco vat.

~SoS~

Soon enough, the duo were passing through the second door and entering the silo. Luckily it seemed none of the lurkers had decided to go through it on their way to their posts, leaving the two well ahead of them and safe, for now. As they entered, Daxter let off a long low whistle, looking around the chamber. "Man, this is one biiiiig room! Wonder what it's for?" Jak grimaced at the thought. He knew exactly what it was for. Though why anyone needed so much dark eco stored in one place, he hadn't a clue.

"Hey look, stairs!" Daxter suddenly called out, and jogged off towards the last place Jak wanted him to go. The stairs Daxter was now bounding up led right to the open eco vat he'd fallen into the first time around. Groaning, Jak followed him up, just in time to see him trip over a very familiar object. "Stupid precursor junk." the redhead muttered, picking the object up and looking it over. Come to think of it, he'd never seen another artifact like it, before or since. … No way. No, there was no way that was the "Thing he'd lost".

Shaking his head, Jak focused back on the situation at hand, just in time to find the bomb hurtling towards his head, Daxter apparently having lost interest and chucked it, in favor of checking out the... Eco vat. Wonderful. Catching the bomb and tucking it under his arm before it could start to glow, Jak jogged forward to stand next to his friend, and keep him in arms reach.

"Ugh, what is that dark ooze?" Jak blinked, looking down into the pool himself. He'd forgotten that this was the first time either of them had actually seen dark eco in it's liquid form. Sure, Samos had shown them little bits of it now and again, usually gaseous but occasionally in a vial, just enough to warn them away from it. But that didn't prepare you for a full sized eco pool, or a vat of the stuff as in this case.

The two boys stared at the eco for a few seconds. Jak considering just how much the stuff, and especially this particular pool, had effected his life, and Daxter... Daxter was oddly quiet, until the other boy's ear twitched and he turned around. "Uh, Jak?" And then Jak heard it too, a rattle and crunch, like someone walking across a pile of bones. Or wearing them, in this case. Jak spun around quickly, facing the expected lurker. "I think we're in trouble!" Daxter unnecessarily yelled, ducking behind him.

Sure enough, before them stood one of the blue furred, bone layered lurkers, massive femur for a club and all. The creature raised it's weapon in the air, roared a battle cry, and charged, swinging wildly the entire time. Jak clenched the bomb under his arm tightly, remembering how this encounter went last time. Not again.

Gritting his teeth, Jak ran forward to meet the lurker, quickly stuffing the bomb into his bag rather than throwing it, just in case it really did turn out to be what he supposedly needed. Ducking under the club as he came into range, Jak rolled past the lurker before throwing his body into a spin, one leg outstretched to take the lurker's legs out from under it. Thankfully, Jak had always been fairly strong, as the impact brough the lurker crashing to the ground even as Jak got back to his feet.

Not to be taken out so easily, the lurker took another swing at Jak without even bothering to get up first. Jumping over the swing, Jak swung his leg around again, driving it down into the lurker's chest in a powerful axe kick, smirking in satisfaction as the beat lost not only it's breath, but it's grip on the club as well, sending it flying well out of reach.

"Jaaaak!" Jak's eyes widened at Daxter's panicked voice, and he bit back a curse as he realized the trajectory of the flying club. Turning before he even had time to think about it, Jak charged towards his friend, just in time to see the club catch him right in the chest, knocking him backwards, right over the edge of the pit.

Diving forward, Jak reached out, grasping desperately for Daxter's leg. He felt fabric on his fingers and grabbed hold, hitting the ground a moment later just inches from falling in himself, free hand fighting for a grip on the ground to keep himself from joining his friend even as he heard the distinctive splash and fizzle of something falling into dark eco. Opening his eyes -When had he closed them?- Jak looked over the edge, barely daring to hope that the handful of fabric he held was still connected to his best friend.

The breath caught in his throat as he found, that yes, Daxter was still there, still human, and looking no worse than mildly annoyed at being held upside down by his pant leg. Heaving him up, Jak deposited him firmly on solid ground, grinning in relief.

"Well that was a close one." Daxter muttered, gaze bouncing between Jak, the pool of eco, and the motionless bone lurker. Jak couldn't tell what the other boy was thinking. "Di ya have to make it throw the thing at me? That's gonna leave a bruise!" The boy complained, rubbing at his chest. Okay, annoyed then. Fair enough.

"I mean really Jak, who knows what that stuff woulda done to me?!" He went on, waving wildly at the eco now. Shrugging, Jak grinned at him, just glad to have him safe and whole. Though he had to admit, he'd miss having him along on his shoulder all the time. And without that he'd probably never have come along for all their adventures either. Sure, Daxter liked an adrenaline rush, but he wasn't big into real danger, and most everything they'd gotten into since this point had been just that.

"Oh, you think it's funny?" Jak's grin turned instantly to a frown and he shook his head. He was just relieved, did Daxter really think he was laughing at him? "Nope, too late!" The redhead crossed his arms and threw back his shoulders, turning and walking several feet away around the pool, muttering to himself.

Shaking his head, Jak decided to give him a minute to himself, and went to check on the lurker. A quick pulse check told him it was alive, and he sighed in relief. He'd had no problem killing the things when he was younger, but now, knowing that they had been controlled by the Acherons the entire time, and having developed a fairly amiable relationship with Brutter, not to mention the help the entire population had provided during Kor's invasion, well, he'd rather avoid killing any of them if he could help it.

Jak's ears twitched as Daxter's muttering suddenly ceased, and he turned around just in time to see the last thing he could have expected. Daxter was grinning and waving at him, from midair as he fell backwards into the pit. Eyes wide, Jak rushed forward for the second time in as many minutes, only to reach the edge just in time to see the spurt of energy rise from the pool as Daxter passed under the surface.

Seconds passed, then more as Jak searched for something, anything, to say Daxter would come back out. He had no way of knowing if whatever miracle had saved him the last time would happen again. But then, just as he started to wonder if he'd seen the last of him, the eco bubbled, and spat out a tiny missile. Jak spun around as what he quickly recognized as Daxter's ottsel form shot past him, yowling all the way.

"Whew! Still stings!" the orange fuzzball yelped, shaking his head as if he were dizzy. Jak simply stared, momentarily shocked. Why had Daxter jumped into the eco? And, did he say still? "Hm? What's wrong Jak?" Daxter turned around, looking at him oddly. Jak stared. "Hey, Jak, you in there buddy?" And now Daxter was snapping his fingers under Jak's nose.

"Daxter?"

~SoS~

The first two chapters of this were written in about two or three sittings, split up mostly because I had other things I had to do come up while I was writing. This chapter, was written about two paragraphs at a time, and unfortunately I think it shows. Still, I'm glad it's over, because it marks the end of my needing to adhere to canon timings, which always bothers me a little bit. Future chapters, while they'll be a bit harder since I'll have to come up with most of my events from scratch or momentary events in the games, should be easier to write and more enjoyable to read. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope the few of you that have done me the honor of following and reviewing are too.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Daxter?"

Great, now Daxter was staring at him. And not even in a "Holy crap my mute friend just said my name!" way. More of just a plain old "Are you nuts?" sort of way.

"Uh, yeah?" the ottsel managed to turn it into a question. Not questioning himself mind, but - "Who else would I be?" - Yeah, that. Except the thing was, last time, he distinctly remembered quite a lot of screaming as Daxter realized what had happened to him. This time, he was brushing himself off like he'd had a bit of a tumble and got dusty. He even looked about ready to start... Yep, he was licking his elbow.

"Daxter?" He had to ask again, the hope starting to grow in him seeping into the word maybe a bit more than he'd have liked. None of this response made sense, unless, somehow, this was _his_ Daxter, the one who'd had years to get used to his form and wouldn't have to deal with adjusting to being technically an animal. Well, that or the eco had fried the part of his brain that recognized the difference and replaced it with the animal instincts Daxter had originally taken over a year to even begin to accept. Understandably he was hoping for the former.

And then Daxter started snickering. And pointing. And now laughing outright. "You should have seen your face!" he guffawed, finger nearly in contact with said same face. "If only I had a camera! Why haven't we invented those yet? So useful!" And there it was, a grin blossomed on Jak's face even as Daxter devolved into rambling.

"It is you!" he cheered, grabbing up his friend into a hug. "Yeah yeah, calm down big guy, this isn't good for your image you know." Daxter patted him on the shoulder before wriggling free and climbing up onto his shoulder pad, taking up his traditional position, and in doing so, reminding Jak of his current state.

"But, why?" he asked, plucking Daxter up again and moving him to a fence rail where he could properly see his face.

"Why? What, this?" Daxter gestured to his body, and Jak could only nod. "Well, you know, you get used to it after awhile. I can do a lot more like this than my old body ever could." The ottself shrugged his shoulders, scratching behind his neck in apparent embarrassment. He never had liked admitting his inner desire to be useful.

"Besides!" Daxter perked up, instantly back to his normal self. "You know chicks dig the fuzz!" he insisted, giving himself a "Sensual" rub down the side. "Especially now I've got these sweet..." And then he choked, halfway through his sentence as he looked down at himself. "No." The denial was clear on his face, as if by refusing to believe it he could change reality.

"No!" Jak started to chuckle, stifling it behind a fist. "Shut up Jak! This is wrong! How could they do this to me?!" Jak kept chuckling, barely holding himself back from laughing outright as he picked up his friend and deposited him on his shoulder once more. "Stop it Jak! It's not funny! I earned those pants!"

And that was too much, Jak laughed harder than he could remember in a long time, and even though he made a show of sulking, Jak saw a smirk on Daxter's face as well before he turned his head away. Suppressing his laughter after a little bit, Jak decided to make a peace offering in the form of a suggestion he'd never had the time to consider before, considering the timing of Daxter' usual complaints. "Why don't you just get some made?"

"It's not the same..." Daxter muttered back, evidently still sulking. Jak laughed again as he started walking. It was time to get out of here before the lurker woke up, or more came to check out the noise.

~SoS~

"What in green tarnation do you two want?!" Jak stopped halfway through the door to Samos' hut, momentarily surprised by the outburst, before recalling that yes, he had been that bad before. Daxter hopped down from his shoulder, moving forward and opening his mouth to try and tell the old man what had happened, but Samos plowed right over him without pause. Jak's eyes narrowed when the man spun to face them, not a whisper of surprise on his face at Daxter's appearance.

"Don't tell me! Instead of heeding my wisdom, the two of you went mucking around in the only place that I told you not to go! Misty Island!" The man paused for a moment, presumably to allow them to bask in awe of his wisdom, but instead Daxter used the opportunity to attempt once again to explain what was really going on, only to have the sage talk right over him once again.

"And Daxter, you finally took a much needed bath! But in a bathtub filled, with dark eco!" Always one for the drama, the sage dragged out his words, leaned down enough to be almost level with Daxter, and even added a little "Mystic" finger wiggling. Jak resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but a glance downwards told him Daxter wasn't so restrained.

"Hey!" Daxter had evidently lost patience with the man, as he'd grabbed hold of Samos' beard and pulled him down the rest of the way. "Are you gonna keep yapping, or actually listen for a change?! Cause we could use some help!" Jak almost pitied the old man. Daxter had chosen to deliver his question in the form of shouting mere inches from the man's face, and had even turned up the waterworks just for the occasion. Almost. He was actually busy fighting back a glare, as his suspicions about the old man began to rise.

Samos extracted himself from Daxter's grip with relative ease, and floated backwards, and upwards, out of the ottsel's reach with poorly hidden disgust on his face. Jak only hoped it was towards the spittle running down his brow.

"I'm gonna keep yapping!" the sage returned, extracting a handkerchief from somewhere to wipe off his face. "Because in my professional opinion, the change is an improvement." Daxter growled at that, because despite the fact that it turned out he agreed, they both knew full well Samos didn't have the same reasons in mind. "If only the same could be said of his manners." the old sage muttered, flicking off the last of the spittle and tucking away his kerchief.

"And besides, I couldn't help you even if I wanted to." The claim, to Jak's surprise, actually seemed sincere despite Daxter's basically spitting in his face moments ago. "Eh? No, I-" Daxter started to protest, once again trying to inform Samos that his body was not in fact the reason they were there, but Jak slapped him lightly on the back of the head, earning himself a glare, but simply giving a shake of the head in return.

Samos, oblivious to the byplay, continued his familiar speech. "There's only one person who has studied dark eco long enough to have a chance at returning you to your previous form." Samos flew over to the north facing window, gesturing outwards with his staff. "Gol Acheron, the sage. But he lives far to the north. Far, far to the north. Nobody has spoken to him in ages.

I would teleport you there, but I can't do that either." Zipping back to the middle of the room, Samos dropped back to the ground, the logs he called sandals clattering loudly against the floor. "None of the three sages that maintain the other teleporter gates have seen fit to turn their ends on for quite awhile!" The degree of irritation the sage let seep into his voice for that proclamation seemed entirely unfit to Jak, knowing that chances were the gates had been shut down when the sages were first abducted. "The only other way north is by foot through the fire canyon. But it's volcanic soil is hot enough to melt precursor metal. You can't just walk through it."

"But you could fly over it!" Keira's voice coming from beside him surprised Jak, though he managed not to show it. He hadn't even heard her coming, and had started to wonder what would happen if she wasn't here for her part of the conversation. Yet just like before, there she was leaning against the door frame. Unlike before though, he was still standing in the door himself, and _hadn't noticed her_. Apparently he'd gotten a bit too used to his dark eco enhanced senses.

"If you had a zoomer equipped with a heat shield! I just happen to be working on such a thing at this very moment. All I would need is twenty power cells to give it enough energy to withstand the canyon's heat." Keira continued, making her proposal and walking across the room to her father, apparently unlike Jak, not content to just stay in the door. Jak glanced towards Daxter, who he recalled had a bit of a crush on Keira at this point in time before and had taken the "Opportunity" to try and impress her, giving a mild smile as he noticed his friend seemed happy to see the younger Keira, but made no such attempts this time. Either he'd simply grown out of his crush, or desire to hit on every female around him, or, he really was just that infatuated with Tess. Most likely the latter. He had made himself an ottsel for her after all.

"Isn't that right Daddy?" Jak tuned back into the conversation in time to catch Samos' speculative look at him and Daxter as they also moved closer to the center of the room, Jak no longer content to remain in the doorway. "Yes, Keira, that might work. But where are a boy, and a _half_ ,-" Samos swung his staff at Daxter's head, only for the ottsel to step back out of the way with ease, earning a sour look from the old man. Apparently _his_ senses were still perfectly fine. "-Going to find twenty power cells?"

"From the villagers!" Keira's answer was instant, to the point Jak had to wonder if she hadn't been planning this trip a lot longer than implied. It was rather convenient timing for her to have a fully operable zoomer, missing only the power cells. But who was it convenient for? It'd have been pretty hard for her to convince the villagers to hand over their precious cells for the sake of her experimental technology, but for a heroic quest?

"Most of them have a power cell or two stashed away _somewhere_. And even if they aren't willing to just give them away, greasing their palms with a few precursor orbs should do the trick. And I bet there are even more of them out in the wilds just waiting for some _brave adventurer_ to find." Keira laying emphasis on the title and leaning well into his space reminded Daxter wasn't the only one who'd had a crush during this time. He smiled fondly at the memory, but leaned back enough himself to keep clear. While he'd once entertained thoughts of rewarding the girl's crush, any chances of that had been dashed when Errol entered both their lives. Between his sometimes rocky past with her, and his short lived run with Ashelin, and now time travel in general, well, he figured he'd swear off romance for awhile.

"Well we've got the brave adventurer at least." Daxter, apparently no longer sulking came to the rescue with one of his heroic poses, drawing all eyes in the room to him. Jak smirked at the knowing look in Daxter's eye. They both remembered him making the exact claim the last time, but where before it had just been empty bragging, now it was very much the truth. For both of them.

"Brave adventurer?" Of course, Samos didn't see it that way. "You two couldn't find your way out of the village without training!" While factually untrue, evidenced by Daxter's current state, Jak merely rolled his eyes where only Daxter could see, earning a smirk, before turning towards the sage and his daughter. "Before you do anything else, you better go through the warp gate and get some practice on Geyser Rock."

"We won't find any more of that dark eco stuff there will we?" Daxter cut in, one brow raised towards Samos, drawing the sage's attention. "Because I'd hate to fall in again and turn into you!" Apparently the insult was too good to pass up using it a second time. Samos looked about ready to take a swing at Daxter again rather than simply yelling as he'd done last time, so grabbing Daxter up, Jak jumped right into the gate without waiting to see what would happen.

~SoS~

Well, turns out I was wrong on last chapter being the last big chunk of canon following, but I didn't see any way to skip this and still keep the storyline how I want it to go. This _should_ do it though. And now to hurry up and post it so I can feel good about posting on Wednesday three weeks in a row! Honestly, I said I wanted to keep a one chapter buffer, but I enjoyed the idea of a weekly schedule so much that I haven't followed that rule even once since. Which isn't to say you should expect weekly updates. It's actually to say not to, because I am a terrible person who can't follow his own rules.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Hey! What gives?" As soon as they popped out of the portal, Daxter wrestled free of Jak's arms and climbed up onto his shoulder to glare at him properly. Rather than respond, Jak held up his hand in a gesture for silence, and shook his head. Daxter was about to yell at him anyway, when they heard the sound of something coming through the teleporter again, and then the low hum of an active portal vanished as the device was turned off.

"You can't-" Samos' voice lasted only a moment before Jak spun around, grabbing the floating communicator and smashing it into the ground, the voice cutting off in a rough screech of shattered electronics.

"Jak!" Daxter complained, only having held on through the sudden movement through years of practice. "What are you doing?!" He'd gone from angry to bewildered, Jak could hear the change in his voice.

"He knew." Jak muttered, as if that answered anything. "What? No he didn't. If he knew, he'd have said something!" Daxter shook his head, apparently still missing the point.

"Not that." Jak shook his head, starting to walk away from the teleporter. Having destroyed the comm, Samos might decide to come through himself. "You saw him. He wasn't surprised when he saw you, at all." Daxter was looking at him funny now, as if he had missed something incredibly obvious. Not the reaction he'd expected.

"Well, duh. He met us before, remember? He had to have known I was going to change the minute he heard my name!" Jak sighed, shaking his head. Trust Daxter to see the forest and miss the trees.

"He knew it was going to happen today, and how." Jak pointed out, and Daxter still didn't seem to get it. "We never told him Dax." And there it was, Daxter's eyes widened slightly as he seemed to catch on to what Jak was saying. "He must have told himself everything. And Daxter, he hopped through a time rift, with a helpless child, without hesitation. All to preserve the time line."

Stopping at a short ledge, Jak sat down, absently scooping up a few orbs that had been left lying on the ground. "He knew when and how you would be turned into an ottsel and he never said anything to stop it. He let us think you could be turned back if we went to Gol, when he _knew_ what Gol was doing. Dax, he made us fight a war, because to him, _we already had._ "

It had all started to fall into place when they'd walked into that hut, fully intending to tell Samos everything. The sage had already known some, or possibly even all of what happened to them, in this time and the future, right up until he took Mar to the past, to start it all over again. He'd known about Daxter, he had to have known about Gol, about the other sages. _About the program_. The thought was a whisper in his mind, yet he knew it had to be true. "The Shadow" had known what he was turned into, hadn't known that he would, or even could be saved. Yet he'd never given him a single word of warning, let him walk into Haven blind, straight into Errol's hands. All for his precious time line.

"He's so invested in keeping things the same that he just let it all happen Dax. Everything. He could have stopped it, but..." But he'd made it happen instead. Let them think they were saving Daxter, while they were really fighting a war. Then, when the truth came out, making them keep going without hesitation.

"If he finds out, he'll stop us." Jak looked directly into Daxter's eyes, as seriously as he'd ever been. "Somehow, he'll find a way to put things back how he knows they go. We can't tell him." Jak frowned, thinking for a moment. "We can't tell anyone, or he might realize something's wrong."

The realization hurt. He wanted to tell Keira, to give her the warning none of them had had. The opportunity to stay here even, if she wanted. It had hit her the hardest of all, not being able to go home after all that time re-, no, building, the rift rider. But Keira was reckless, and relied on her father's approval. She'd never be able to keep the secret from him.

"So." Daxter piped up when it became clear Jak had gone silent again. "You're gonna play the mute, and we just pretend everything's normal, or ol' log head turns our brains to putty?" Jak smirked, the explanation was incredibly simplified, but that was basically the plan he'd come up with, so he just nodded. "Sounds fun!" The ottsel chirped, scrambling back onto Jak's shoulder from where he'd moved to the boy's lap while they sat. "Then let's get started, before he catches you moping around!"

Jak chuckled, shifting back onto his feet and looking around. It'd been a long time since they'd been here, but he thought he could remember where they'd found some orbs hidden just off the path nearby.

~SoS~

After only a few minutes, the duo had gathered all the orbs on the beach, and even scooped up the first power cell, smack dab in the middle of the path, just like Jak remembered it. But, having approached the cell from the opposite direction as before, thanks to their detour along the beach, Jak's eye caught something he hadn't paid attention to before, and since there hadn't been a reason to come back here since, hadn't really thought about since either.

"Jak? Whatcha lookin' at?" Daxter's head popped out of Jak's bag, where he'd just been stashing away the power cell, and quietly giggling to himself, probably over the number of orbs they'd collected already, considering the value they held in the future.

Following his gaze, Daxter blinked and let off a whistle. "Wow. That is one big oracle." Jak shook his head. "No, I think it's a robot." Sticking out of the side of a cliff, was the head and shoulders of a giant precursor robot, just like the one they'd found in the mines. If this was here, it was amazing that the island wasn't overrun by lurkers. Gol and Maia had to be unaware of this one's existence, since every other robot they'd found during this time had lurkers trying to salvage parts off it.

"Really?" Daxter scurried back up onto his shoulder, leaning forward for a better look, before nudging Jak in the side of the head. "Hey, wanna see if it works?" he whispered in a conspiring tone.

"What?" Jak's head spun to face his friend, slightly stunned by the suggestion. "Well, if it worked, we could totally crush Gol and Maia's scrap heap with it!" Jak shook his head, chuckling. The idea certainly seemed tempting, but it was likely Samos would notice something off immediately if they started stomping around in a robot. If it was even pilot-able. And that was beside the most relevant problem. "I don't have a gun, and there's no yellow eco on this island. What if it woke up?"

Jak had fought more than enough precursor robots to know he didn't want to fight one without a ranged weapon. He was almost disappointed though when Daxter didn't come up with any suggestions. It really would have been fun to take one for a spin.

~SoS~

Jak stood, frowning. Before him sat a blue eco vent, spewing a constant flow of what could almost be described as a cloud of static. He'd avoided picking up any of the loose bits of it naturally laying about the island, but now they'd reached the blue eco door, and there was no way to progress without the eco.

The first time around, he'd eagerly leapt into the flow, loving every moment of the surge of energy associated with blue eco. But now he hesitated. Pure eco was in short supply in the future, vents basically unheard of and not enough ambient eco to form the clusters so common in this age. He'd grown curious once, missed the joys of eco channeling, and cracked open some of his eco bullets to get at the pure eco stored inside.

Blue eco normally felt like lightning surging through his veins, infusing him with energy. Eco from a blue eco bullet, felt not unlike being hit by a guard's taser rod. Lightning, certainly, but not an ounce of energy. With the sole exception of a peacemaker round, every other eco bullet had similar effects, with the dark eco from the peacemaker simply being absorbed like any other. He'd come to the conclusion then that something in the process of changing him had made it impossible for him to channel normal ecos anymore, and the precursors giving him access to light eco hadn't fixed that either. He could still utilize green eco, but he'd never been able to channel that properly anyway. Probably out of a subconscious fear when he was younger of turning green, like Samos.

But now... That all should have changed. He hadn't been through the "Program" yet. He should still have his eco channeling ability... Jak snorted. Yet another thing he'd lost then? Reaching forward, Jak pushed the tips of his fingers into the flow, and smiled when instead of a painful shock, he felt the familiar rush of energy through his fingertips.

Confident now, Jak stepped fully into the flow, basking in the surge of energy, like tiny lightning bolts rushing through his veins, invigorating every muscle, every fiber of his being. Jak couldn't resist the urge to let out a whoop of joy as the influx of energy lifted him right off his feet for a moment.

Bracing himself as his feet hit the ground again, Jak grinned, and took off, running faster than he could remember moving outside of a vehicle in years. Slowing time itself just didn't count, the feeling wasn't even comparable. Caught up in the moment, Jak ran right past the door he was meant to open, several yards further down along the cliffs before he stopped. Turning around, Jak stood for a moment, unable to remain still with so much energy coursing through him, hopping from foot to foot and shaking his hands, before taking off again, even faster than before.

Reaching the door, Jak skidded almost to a stop as the door opened a bit too slowly, but once the door was open, he simply continued, rushing straight through and grabbing the floating power cell on the way by, tossing it over to Daxter to add to his bag. It took less than a second to hit the end of the path, and he simply jumped off the cliff, dropping down into the pool below, laughing as the eco finally dissipated, the last vestiges drawing the surrounding orbs towards him, attracted by the eco as so many things were.

Climbing up onto one of the floating platforms someone had left in the pool, Jak sat, still laughing from some mixture of the excitement from having so much energy for that little while, and the sheer joy of being able to simply use eco again outside of the light and dark binary.

~SoS~

It was the work of minutes to collect the rest of the artifacts on the island, once Jak had calmed down enough to continue on, and soon enough the duo were stood on a floating platform, hovering downwards towards the warp gate.

"Uh oh, trouble ahead Jak." Daxter warned, leaning forward and pointing towards the gate. Looking down from where he'd been taking one last look around the island just in case they'd missed something, Jak spotted what Daxter had already. Bent over just in front of the gate, Keira was there, inspecting something on the ground. "She's not gonna be happy." the ottsel warned, Jak nodding his agreement.

Sure enough, as Jak hopped off the platform and approached, Keira stood up, shoving the last bits of broken communicator into a sack, and glaring at him quite possibly more harshly than ever before, past or future. Which really said a lot considering some of the things that had happened between them back in Haven.

"Daddy says you can't come back until you have four power cells." she informed them, never letting up her glare, leading Jak to suspect she'd like to increase the requirements somewhat.

"Well, as it so happens, we do!" Daxter returned, giving one of his victorious grins, only to receive almost as strong a glare as Jak himself. The ottsel gulped in evident fear, and Jak could almost see the cogs turning in his head until he suddenly brightened up.

"Oh, and we found these too!" Digging into Jak's bag, Daxter rummaged about for a few seconds, before pulling out a handful of the scout flies they'd found earlier. It'd been a bit too long for Jak to remember exactly which box had the power cell, so he'd just collected all of them.

"My scout flies?" Keira brightened up, stepping forward to claim the inert robots from Daxter, inspecting them closely. "I sent them out to look for power cells. How did you find them?" Evidently Daxter was forgiven, but not Jak, as Keira very pointedly did not look in his direction.

"Well, they were all locked up in boxes. We figure the lurkers must have caught them an' just didn't know what to do with em, so they locked em up! One even had a power cell though, so they work!" Daxter leaned against Jak's head, grinning away again. That did draw a smile from Keira, but it vanished again a moment later when she turned to Jak.

"Daddy said to hurry back as soon as you had the cells." she bit off, before hopping through the portal herself. Jak and Daxter shared a look, before Jak shrugged and hopped through himself. No use worrying about it for now.

~SoS~

Woohoo! Finally out of the canon! Most stuff from TPL isn't going to be even this in depth, I just had a few more things I needed to cover here in order to get the setting finalized. I'm not sure how detailed the rest of the first game is going to be. I've set out to write simple scenes a couple times and had them expand to half the chapter length, so what I've originally envisioned as a series of montages might get longer than expected. Still, this was probably the last, or close to the last, of the big exposition chapters where I have to bounce between times a lot. At least until we get to the future.

And I get to update on Wednesday again! Woot!

Unfortunately due to a bug on the site during New Years, a couple of days of viewer logs were lost. But, before it happened the first chapter hit just over a hundred total visitors! Which seems small compared to other fandoms on this site, but I still find it pretty exciting. Anyway, I'd like to again thank everyone that's Favorited and Followed the story, and especially those that took the time to review. One of the highlights of my day since posting this story has been seeing all those numbers continue to increase. Nothing motivates me to keep making something like knowing that someone out there enjoys it.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Jak!" The second Jak came out of the teleporter, Samos was there, face less than an inch from his own. "Why did you destroy the communicator?!" he bellowed. Jak repressed a relieved sigh, as the old man displayed only anger, no suspicion.

"Hey! Back off!" Daxter cut in, as usual, pushing himself in between them, quite literally, and shoving Samos away with his feet. Jak had to catch him when Samos pulled back, sputtering, leaving Daxter without support. The ottsel recovered quickly, retaking his usual position. "Alone in a strange place, and _your_ voice pops up right behind him? Anyone woulda done it!" he insisted, hands waving emphatically.

"Strange place? I have to lock the teleporter to keep you two out of it!" Samos returned incredulously. It was true enough, Geyser Rock was one of the safest places around, and the two had enjoyed playing there as children.

"You try being two feet tall!" Daxter had his own answer, though it technically no longer applied to himself. "Oh waaaiiiit..." The ottsel continued, as if he'd come to some realization, looking the sage up and down critically, from his massive hairdo to his foot long logs for sandals. Jak had to fight to keep a straight face, especially as Samos' own started twitching from raw fury as only Daxter seemed able to bring out in him.

"Get, OUT!" Mount Samos finally blew, the sage bellowing loudly enough to shake his furniture and stabbing his staff at the door. Taking the opportunity, Jak made for the door, ducking quickly as Samos swung his staff at both their heads on the way by, Daxter laughing all the way out.

As they passed by Keira's shop, Daxter leaning heavily on Jak's head and wiping tears from his eyes, Jak stopped as something bounced off the back of his head. Wincing, he turned around just in time to catch a second object that was about to hit him in the face. Looking at it revealed it to be a small handheld communicator, a simple push button radio. Looking up in confusion, he found the culprit to be, of course, Keira, who was now stomping towards him, looking about ready to slap him, if not worse. Probably worse.

"Since I don't have time to fix the one you _broke_ ," The young woman growled, glaring directly into Jak's eyes. "We're going to have to use these instead." Pulling another one out of her pocket, she held it up. "They only work one way at a time, but I can use the signals to track your location. We can't hear or see through them though, so make sure to check in regularly!" With another glare, she spun around and went back into her shop.

Shrugging, Jak handed the comm to Daxter, who in turn stuffed it into Jak's bag. Turning around, Jak made to leave, only to be stopped again by Keira calling out. "If you find any more scout flies, bring them to me. I can fix them up and send them out again. They might find more cells!" Smiling at the reduced level of anger in her voice, Jak raised a hand to wave over his shoulder, and made his way into town.

~SoS~

"No! Uh uh, no way! Stop!" Daxter was currently perched on Jak's back, pulling on the ends of his hair like it was a horse's reins, and screaming his disapproval for all to hear. Taking a quick glance around to make sure that "All" was still only the two of them, Jak plucked Daxter from his back by the scruff of his neck, and held him out in front of him, giving him an annoyed glare. "She's the only seamstress around." he hissed, staying quiet just in case.

"Have you _seen_ the thing on her head?" Daxter retorted, prying Jak's fingers loose and swinging back to his usual perch. "I am _not_ going to wear a memorial to the long departed _mutant chicken_ , created in it's _current_ image!"

"She makes everyone's clothes Dax, remember? It'll be fine." Jak rolled his eyes, resuming the walk, thankfully now with Daxter merely muttering to himself rather than actively trying to remove Jak's hair.

It only took a few more moments to reach their destination, Jak knocking on the door frame as they entered. The house was so cluttered with cages it was amazing the owner could even live in it. Even more amazing perhaps that till felt the need to watch wild birds, when she had so many captive already. Luckily though, she was feeding said caged avians rather than using her binoculars, as she had been last time around.

"Ah, yes? What can I do for you?" The old lady queried, looking at Daxter oddly, then focusing on Jak. Apparently news of his new form hadn't spread quite yet. When Daxter didn't say anything, Jak shot him a look and jostled his shoulder.

"Well," Daxter finally spoke up, earning a surprised look from the woman. "You see, we're on a bit of a quest and were wondering if you had any power cells?" Jak shot him a look, but Daxter was pointedly looking in the opposite direction. Grumbling, Jak reached up and swatted him, giving him a pointed look when he turned to glare at him for it.

Daxter glared for a second, but finally relented with a sigh. "And I require a pair of your fanciest pants!" he added, his usual flair tempered by sarcasm.

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed, at first having been taken aback by the talking rodent situation, but now apparently recovered with the subject reaching familiar grounds. "Oh, yes, I think we can do something about that!" The woman clapped her hands and shuffled over, procuring a flexible tape measure from somewhere in the process and immediately setting into taking Daxter's measurements, completely ignoring the ottsel's protests and slapping his hands out of the way repeatedly.

"Yes, this will be a bit of a challenge..." she muttered, Daxter yelping in protest as she wrapped the tape around his tail before stepping back at last. "That should do it!" she happily stated, tucking the tape away and shuffling over to a pile of fabrics, rifling through them to find the ones she wanted to work with.

"Oh, do you also need, undergarments?" Daxter froze from where he'd been smoothing his fur after she'd mussed it up taking his measurements, eyes locked onto the woman with a sheer desperation that told Jak the ottsel leader had neglected something in his original offering.

"Yes!" Daxter cheered, a little too eagerly apparently as he immediately retracted. "Er, I mean, yeah, that'd be good."

"Okay then. They should be done in a couple of hours." She stated, receiving a nod from both, Daxter seeming much more excited now than when they'd first entered.

"Oh!" The woman exclaimed as Jak turned to leave. "I do have a power cell, but, oh dear..." Jak turned again, pretty sure he knew what was coming. "Well, I was watching the birds over on Sentinel beach and-" Yep, as he'd expected, she was asking for help with her flut flut egg again. Jak nodded along, knowing that they'd need to do this to get the cell, and also that the bird itself would be an invaluable ally later on.

"So if you could meet me there in a few hours, I can pile up some hay and you can push it off the cliff! Oh dear... I do hope the poor thing will be all right..." The woman nervously knitted her fingers together, apparently truly concerned for the bird's well being despite her rather crude rescue plans. Giving a reassuring smile, Jak nodded his consent.

~SoS~

"Hey, you sure about this Jak?" As they left the bird watcher's hut, and with a few hours to kill, Jak had spotted the oracle up on the cliff. The last couple of minutes had been spent getting up the cliff, and now the two were approaching the precursor device. "They've never exactly helped us out you know."

"I need to know why we're here Dax." Jak retorted. "Besides, we need the power cells." he added, gesturing to the cells they could now see within the device.

"Alright..." Daxter reluctantly agreed. "But if this thing starts going on about epic quests and saving the universe -" "Who awakens the oracle?" The oracle's familiar booming voice blocked out whatever Daxter was going to say, it's eyes lighting up behind the cells and shining like beams onto the duo now stood before it.

"Wait! One of you has the light within. From before time I have watched and waited for the true hero to return." the oracle boomed, repeating the same monologue Jak remembered from before.

A bit disappointed that this oracle was apparently, pre-recorded or some such, Jak frowned. "Well I'm back." he snapped, despite knowing it was fruitless. If the devices weren't manually operated they were as good as talking to a brick wall. "And I'd like to know why." he muttered, glaring at the glorified statue, before his eyes widened in shock as the statue's own narrowed to slits, the light within shining more intensely than ever, focused into a near blinding beam.

"Uh, Jak? I think you pissed it off."

~SoS~

So I just discovered that my line breaks haven't actually been showing up. I don't check the chapters after posting them to avoid skewing the traffic stats, so hadn't noticed until just now. So... I might go back and fix that later? Somehow? Sorry about any confusion from unintentional poor scene transitions...

[Edit: All the line breaks have been added in now as a centered ~SoS~. I now realize why people have been using that method, and feel really silly for not noticing before...]

But hey, we're over 10k words now! So, hello to everyone who sets their filters to a 10k minimum! Yes I realize we passed that point with the last chapter, but I didn't realize it then until it was posted so, yeah. Yay 10k! Here's hoping I can keep pace for 50k and beyond, for the true elite readers!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The longer the oracle stared, the brighter the light from within it became, eventually forcing Jak to take a step back and shield his eyes, lest he be blinded. Even with eyes guarded, Jak felt that he could feel the light on him it was so strongly focused, as if it was trying to pierce right through him. But, just as Jak felt that at any moment the beam would be strong enough to do just that, or at the least set him ablaze, the light abruptly ceased.

Lowering his hand and blinking the spots from his eyes, Jak found the oracle back to normal, light still glowing but somehow seeming subdued after producing so much more. Glaring as his eyes recovered, Jak stepped forward again and opened his mouth to demand an explanation.

"You have returned." Jak stopped in his tracks, jaw snapping shut once more. How could such a simply and levelly delivered statement seem like the statue was booming, the words powerful enough to shake his bones. "But you are not the true hero."

"Now see here!" Daxter cut in, emboldened now and jumping from Jak's shoulder to point accusingly at the precursor device. "We have done your dirty work! We've saved the world _three times!_ That's right, count em. _Three!_ That's three more than anyone else I know, so I'd say we've earned that "True hero" status!"

Jak and the oracle both were silent, watching Daxter rant. Jak had to agree with his friend, but something seemed off about what the oracle had said.

"And another thing!" the ottsel continued, evidently not even close to done yet now that he had the chance to give them a piece of his mind. **"Silence** _ **rodent!**_ **"** If the previous interruption had been bone shaking, Jak was surprised this one hadn't collapsed the cliff on which they stood. Daxter was completely taken aback, sputtering in shock at the disrespect, especially considering how willingly he'd bought into the idea that he himself was of the precursor's race now. Jak, was less surprised, finding this just confirmation that they were speaking to the other entity now, or one similar to it. Still, he couldn't stop himself from taking a step forward, an instinctual snarl ripping from his throat, though it died quickly without the usual surge of dark eco to go with it.

The statue was, predictably, unperturbed by Jak's threatening movements. "You are adept in channeling eco, but to become the hero we require, you must learn much more. You must learn to draw the primal ecos into yourself, to hold them within as you have the light and the dark. Only then will you find true power."

Jak was taken aback by that. The thought hadn't occurred to him even once. Blue, red, yellow. Even green eco he only held long enough for it to fulfill it's purpose. And on top of that when he did hold them they dispersed over time anyway, rather than simply being used up like his dark and light eco reserves. But, if he could store the colored ecos, use them when he needed instead of immediately... True power was a bit of an understatement.

"Bring me one hundred and twenty precursor orbs, for each of the power cells I contain." the Oracle interrupted his thoughts, back on it's original script apparently. Jak rolled his eyes, turning to leave since they hadn't collected enough orbs yet.

Daxter though, was still fuming. "Oh no you don't!" the ottsel yelled, actually stomping up to the statue and jabbing it in the "Nose". "We've already done all this, we "Proved our worth" a long time ago! And we have a lot more use for those orbs than some overrated statue! So how about you just go ahead and _give_ us those power cells?"

Turning back to see what happened, Jak was treated to the sight of the oracle once again narrowing it's eyes, though thankfully it did not turn up the light again. Instead, the inanimate precursor object appeared to have entered a staring match with Daxter.

"Bring me-" "No!" The oracle began again, only to be cut off by Daxter, leading to another several moments of silent glaring between the two. "Blue eco." the oracle finished, actually sounding smug, and silencing Daxter, who stepped back, blinking in surprise. Chuckling to himself, Jak turned away again, knowing Daxter would catch up. It seemed he had some work to do.

~SoS~

Having a deadline, the two decided to head over to the beach and kill the rest of their time gathering cells and orbs there. All progress on that front however, ended the moment they reached the path out of the village. Just outside of the village, on the way to the beach, was a natural gathering point for blue eco. He hadn't seen any of this, ambient, for lack of a better word, eco in the future, but in this time it was common to find places where eco just, gathered together into clusters. Even after it had been used up, a new cluster would quickly form in the same place within minutes.

The fact that this point was a gathering place of blue eco, one of the most useful in this time, and the one the oracle had asked for, certainly added to his hesitation. If he really could learn to hold eco within himself, the way light and dark had naturally, he would be able to access so many things with relative ease, that would normally require trekking all over the continent to activate eco switches.

With that in mind, jak took the final step forward, allowing the blue eco to rush into his body. Shoving aside the feeling of energy he always got from blue eco, Jak focused on the feeling of the eco moving through his body. He knew it couldn't be as simple as just holding it in, and a momentary attempt to do so anyway seemed to do nothing more than intensify the power when it broke free of his hold a moment later, Daxter yelping in complaint as the eco changed to static.

Jak flashed the ottsel an apologetic smile, even as Daxter hopped off his shoulder to move away from him a bit, poking around the area as if he was looking for something.

Refocusing on the eco, Jak could feel that there was barely any left. His attempt to hold it back actually seemed to have made it run out that much faster. Luckily, this was one of those rare points that gathered multiple clusters, So Jak just shifted position a bit, allowing the last of his eco to attract the new cluster and smiling at the surge of energy traveling through his core

Core... Jak paused at that thought. His light and dark eco had always been at odds with each other, swirling around each other, always pushing but never quite touching, and the sensation had always come from what he could only describe as his core, in some metaphysical sense. Their constant battle of push and pull had created a sort of void in between, or so it had always felt. The dark, initially, had taken up all of the space, until the light came in and claimed it's own space, creating that void.

But now, with that thought in mind, he realized that that void, was precisely where he could feel the blue eco now. When he picked up the cluster, it suffused him, pushing it's way into that space, and then slowly leaking back out into his body and the surrounding air. Frowning in concentration, Jak began trying to reach inward, trying to will that space to seal up, to close around the blue eco the way it had his dark, and then light. Slowly, he felt like it was working, closing around the eco as the flow through his body slowed...

"Oh good!" The voice jarred him from his concentration, and Jak scowled as he felt the last of the eco slip away. "You're already here!" Opening his eyes and forcing the scowl to recede, Jak found himself face to smiling face with the elderly bird watcher. A sudden weight moving up his side and onto his shoulder told him Daxter was back as well, and the sound of metal clinking as the ottsel shuffled around told him he hadn't been wasting his time either.

"Now, come with me and I'll show you where the egg is!" the little old lady chirped, setting off towards the lift to the upper areas of the beach. Jak sighed, accepting that he wasn't going to be able to finish practicing for awhile, and followed.

~SoS~

Well this is a bit of a shorter chapter than I'd planned, but I want that Wednesday update, so here it is! I hope the beginning isn't too anticlimactic for anyone. The ending of last chapter was just to get it out a bit faster since I was running out of time, and for that little bit of drama.

On another note, I love all the reviews this story has gotten, and really want to be able to respond to some of them. But, I'm not going to start padding my chapters with responses, because I don't enjoy reading them in other people's fics. So, if anyone's interested, I have actually created a Skype chat for anyone that would like to to talk about the story. I'll happily chat with you guys and answer any questions that don't spoil fun bits of the story. And who knows, you might even give me new ideas.

So, if anyone's interested, the link to that chat is on my profile. Because of the site's settings, you'll have to reconstruct it though. So I'll see you there, or in the next chapter, hopefully next week!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Oh good, the poor dear is still there. I was so worried those nasty lurkers would come back for it you know!" The bird watcher was so pleased to find the egg still in place that she actually started clapping her hands. Jak resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was already strange that they had chased off the mother, much less come back for an egg. Lurkers preferred fish after all, and he'd never seen one attempt to ride anything but a machine. … Well, if you ignored the ones that seemed to enjoy riding each other around.

"Now, if you can just find a way to climb on up there, you can just push it off into this hay I've piled up! Do hurry now, before they come back!"

"Um, yeah, about that." Daxter cut in before Jak could walk away. A glance in his direction told Jak he was looking, rather skeptically, at the pile of hay. Taking a look for himself, Jak understood why. He'd assumed before that the pile only looked small because it's been crushed by the egg, but it appeared that the woman had piled maybe a quarter bale at most, certainly not enough to soften a fall. Jak suddenly felt a lot less guilty for having punched and kicked the egg over the edge last time, having assumed it breaking had been his fault.

"Are you sure that's a big enough pile?" The ottsel continued, pointing at the little mound. The bird watcher turned to look at it herself, appearing strangely puzzled. "It should be fine. Flut flut eggs are very strong after all." Daxter didn't appear at all satisfied by her assurances, and she seemed to notice because she backpedaled, raising her hand sin a placating gesture. "I'll try and build up the pile some more while you boys climb up there, how's that sound?"

Daxter still didn't seem satisfied, but Jak didn't give him the chance to complain, simply walking away and heading for the path up the cliff.

~SoS~

Getting to the top of the cliff was a simple matter. After climbing far more difficult terrain while getting shot at, it was impossible to consider the cliff path anything but a walk in the park. It took no time at all to reach the egg and, gently this time, as Jak had become somewhat fond of the creature in the short time he'd known it, pushed it over the edge.

Both boys winced at the loud crack the egg sounded off as it landed, , and the startled yelp from the bird lady. Grimacing, Jak poked his head over the edge, finding to his disappointment that the egg had indeed fractured on landing once again. He supposed it was just lucky that the bird was ready to hatch anyway.

The old lady, who had been fretting over the egg, looked up and waved at the sight of Jak and Daxter hanging over the edge. "It's all right boys, come on down now!" she called out. Jak shrugged, and hopped over the edge, landing with all the grace he could muster beside the egg and causing the lady to take a startled step back, apparently having expected him to take the long way back down.

"Thank you for your help boys." She spoke, quickly getting over her surprise and digging into a bag she'd brought with her, pulling out a familiar glowing orb. "Here's the power cell I promised you." Jak smiled, taking the cell and shoving it into his own bag with the rest.

Before anything further could be said or done, the egg let out a cracking noise, drawing everyone's attention. Another crack had formed, followed by several more in quick succession, until a large portion sheared off at the top, and a feathered head poked out, eying the group.

After a moment of staring from both sides, the bird gave a strong shake, shattering most of the egg around it as it climbed out, walking right over without hesitation and poking curiously at Daxter before pulling back, quirking it's head, and letting out a chirp that sounded suspiciously like "Mama?".

"Oh, how sweet! It thinks you're it's mama!" the bird lady cooed over the whole ordeal, while Daxter looked downright horrified at the repeated event.

"No! Nope, no way! I am way too young, and male, to be anyone's mama!" he shouted, stabbing his finger at the bird's beak. The flut flut though, simply suck it's head further forward, rubbing affectionately against Daxter's entire body, nearly knocking him off Jak's shoulder in the process, to which Jak chuckled, and the old lady aww'd.

"Don't worry, I'll take it home and work with the sage to take care of it." the lady assured them, seeming to assume affection despite Daxter's sulking. Correctly though, considering despite his sulking to anyone who knew him well he looked rather pleased at the creature's attention.

"Well, come along then, let's get back!" The birdwatcher called out, starting to walk away, missing the confused glances she got from the duo. "Er, back?" Daxter responded, drawing _her_ confused glance back towards them. "Well, you do want to get your pants don't you? I didn't bring them with me after all."

Daxter's eyes widened, and he turned them to Jak, exuding hope and plea from every pore. Jak sighed and nodded. He'd planned to do some more gathering in the area, and maybe practice some more with the eco, but this was important to Daxter, and shouldn't take long anyway.

~SoS~

Silence.

Jak and Daxter both stared, stunned. Upon reaching the bird watcher's house, the woman had given the flut flut a bowl of food and then rummaged around in her sewing corner for a few moments, before producing the last thing they had ever expected to see.

Daxter's pants. Not just a new pair of pants for the boy turned ottsel, but Daxter's pants. Identical in every way to the pair he'd been given by the so called precursors. _"I could really use a snazzy pair of pants... Like yours!"_ Daxter's words ran through Jak's mind. But he hadn't gotten pants like theirs. He'd gotten blue denim, just like the ones being held up on display for them right now.

"Well!" The bird lady harrumphed, mistaking their shock for distaste. "I know it's an unusual material, but it's the best I could do on such short notice." she said, defending her creation, and snapping the duo out of their stupor.

"Who told you how to make those?!" Daxter snapped, jumping onto the woman's table to get a closer look, and pointing at the pants accusingly.

"My mother taught me when I was a little girl!" the woman snapped back, irritation starting to show. Before Daxter could say anything else, Jak stepped forward, grabbing his friend by the scruff of the neck. Grabbing up the pants with his other hand, he gave the woman an apologetic smile, and dashed out of the building, heading for someplace private.

~SoS~

Hidden behind one of the stone pillars along the town beach, Jak and Daxter examined the latter's new pants. "I don't get it Jak." Daxter muttered, pacing back and forth before the denim mystery, laid out on the ground between them. "They're identical. Right down to the wear!" he exclaimed, stopping his pacing to point out a particularly thin spot in the material. Apparently the pants had been made from scraps rather than new material. It made sense, considering the material was mostly used for bags and the like in this time period. He couldn't remember seeing anyone actually wear denim before Haven city.

"They aren't identical." Jak interrupted, frowning to himself as he glared at the jeans. "They're the same."

"That means the same thing!" Daxter cut in, before being cut off when Jak's glare turned to him.

"The same pair. They didn't make you pants Dax. They..." Jak paused, rubbing his forehead as the implication flooded his mind. "They copied them. Took them even. Somehow, these are the same pants." The idea was bizarre, unbelievable even, but it explained things. Daxter asked for pants like theirs, so why had they been different? Because the ottsel's staff couldn't make new things. It could only, change things? Move things through time? Copy them? But then what about Tess?

Jak frowned, rubbing his forehead again, to stave off a headache this time. This made less sense the more he tried to figure it out. "Just, put them on and let's get moving. We have work to do." he finally said, giving up on figuring it out for now.

~SoS~

This chapter gave me a lot more trouble than I expected. What I had expected to be a small portion at the start ended up being almost the entire chapter, and it fought me every step of the way. I wasn't sure I'd even be able to get it out on time. But, here it is!

Next chapter will either be far easier, or far harder, and I may need to play the game again before I can write it, not sure.

So, drop a review if you have anything to say, follow if you really like it and want to make me feel good about myself, favorite just for fun, and do all three to make me super happy! I'll see you again, hopefully next week!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Hey Jak, betcha can't beat the pelican." Daxter needled, pointing out the familiar sight of a power cell lying on the beach. A glance to the side showed the giant pelican on it's roost over the water, eyeing the cell. And of course, between them and the cell, a field of bombs raining from the sky courtesy of the lurker cannon tower just off shore. Jak grinned. "You're on."

Bending over, Jak took off, sprinting as fast as he ever had without the help of blue eco, a twist here and a hop there keeping him out of the way of the explosive barrage. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pelican take flight, massive wings pounding back air until within moments it was moving fast enough that Jak knew it would reach the cell first.

Pushing harder, Jak eked out just a little more speed from his legs, arm stretching out, he could almost feel the power cell in his grasp, but the bird was closer, and still faster. Gritting his teeth, Jak pushed even farther, digging deep, and with one last powerful surge from his legs, dove forward, putting his body between the bird and the cell, grabbing the coveted object! Rolling as he landed, Jak came back to his feet with the ease of long experience, thrusting one fist, holding the cell, into the air.

"Uh, Jak?" The adrenaline petered away at Daxter's hesitant query, and Jak turned to his friend, hand lowering, automatically returning the cell to his bag. "You just turned all blue and glowy." Jak blinked, ecstasy replaced by confusion.

"What? That's impossible, I haven't been anywhere near light eco." Daxter shook his head, hands raised.

"Not like that! You were all zappy too!" The less than eloquent explanation was still enough to widen Jak's eyes. Looking down at his hand he frowned. Was it really possible? Looking within himself, into the void he'd felt earlier, it felt, different. Rather than just an empty space, it felt... Empty. Not like there was nothing there, but like something was missing.

Jak grinned. "I think I got it Dax."

~SoS~

A trip back to the eco clusters at the end of the beach confirmed it. Touching one of the clusters, Jak felt the familiar surge of energy, but only for a moment as he gave a mental push, moving it to his core rather than letting it disperse enhancing his body. Another thought, like flexing a muscle he didn't know he had, and the eco was crackling around him, the familiar energy flowing through him, but the eco dispersing at a much slower rate, confirming Jak's theory.

Stopping the release, Jak gathered up the rest of the eco and grinned at Daxter. "Let's go test this out."

~SoS~

"Wahoooooooo!" Jak laughed, soaring through the air courtesy of a precursor launcher. He'd missed the sensation of flying granted by the strange artifacts, and apparently so had Daxter, if his shouting was anything to go by.

Landing right in the middle of the next launcher, Jak grinned, letting his eco reach out a bit farther to drag in the few orbs laying on the rocky spire, before launching off again, the orbs trailing behind him as he flew towards the cannon tower.

Landing on the tower, Jak cut off the flow of eco and brushed himself down, just waiting by the edge for the lurkers to notice him. He didn't have to wait long, though perhaps a bit longer than it should have taken, as one of the purplish creatures spotted him and raised an alarm, charging him fist already swinging.

As the lurker reached him, Jak stepped aside, sweeping the creature's legs and letting it trip and fall, right over the edge. Hopefully for it's sake the sharks could tell the difference between a human and a lurker. Assuming they were even on the same side. Jak had never really considered whether "Lurkers" were all part of a larger group, or society's name for several similar looking species.

Jak's spontaneous philosophizing was cut off by the remaining lurker charging him, only to meet a similar fate as Jak twisted around the lumbering creature and gave a comparatively gentle push to the back of it's head, throwing it off balance and sending it tumbling down to join it's fellow.

A quick search of the cannon found the power cell Jak remembered, and he was getting ready to leave when he noticed Daxter looking oddly at the cannon. "What's wrong?"

Daxter's head spun towards him, a grin stretched across the ottsel's face. "Let's blow up the bird."

~SoS~

"Hey, seagulls!" Jak groaned. "C'mon Jak, ya gotta chase em!" And again. "Daxter the seagulls did not set off an avalanche." Jak answered. The notion was utterly ridiculous. "Come ooooon!" Daxter pleaded, going so far as to poke Jak in the side of the head. "No! It's ridiculous!" Jak insisted, swatting the ottsel's hand away.

"Fine! I'll do it!" And with that, Daxter jumped off his shoulder, charging towards the flock of birds flailing his arms and screaming. Jak chuckled at the birds scattered, relocating to the next sentinel, and Daxter simply kept running.

As the birds took off from the second, flying inland, Daxter turned back to face him, grinning widely. Jak simply crossed his arms and turned to watch the birds fly harmlessly over the mountain.

Only to gape in shock as the rock face crumbled, boulders tumbling down and crashing to the ground. Turning his head as he felt a familiar weight on his shoulder, Jak found Daxter grinning even wider, mouth opening. "Shut up." Jak scowled. How on earth did that even work?

~SoS~

"Oi! Hello? Is this thing on?" Samos' voice blasting from his backpack nearly made Jak trip. An issue that would have been particularly bad considering he was standing atop a stone spire and would have fallen off the edge. Shooting a glare in the bag's general direction, he continued on his way, hopping back down to the ground proper.

"I see you're near my green eco collectors. How about you take a break from your, "Adventuring", and go clean them out for me? Darn things are all clogged up again!" the old man continued after several seconds of near silence during which they could vaguely hear both him and Keira talking. Evidently he didn't know how to work the radio properly. A fact that neither Jak nor Daxter bought for a second.

Rolling his eyes, Jak turned in that direction, it having been his next target anyway. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember which boulder had had the cell trapped inside, or he'd have only bothered unblock the one.

As Jak shoved one of the boulders off the vent, he couldn't help chuckling to himself, a fact Daxter picked up on as they shared a grin. In all the years they'd known him, Samos never seemed to have figured out that they were the ones blocking the eco vents in the first place. It really should have been obvious, whenever he got particularly nasty towards Daxter the two would sneak off and pile rocks on the eco collectors. Plus, did Samos really think that boulders just happened to form on top of eco vents? But no, every time the old sage went out to collect his eco and found them blocked, he'd send the two out to clear them for him. Even gave them an orb or two a few times when he was in a good mood.

Rolling the last of the boulders off, Jak smiled as the expected cell finally appeared, dislodged from a groove in the rock. Scooping it up, he tossed it to Daxter and leaned back against the rock.

"So, that's it for the beach, what next?" the ottsel asked, toying with the cell rather than putting it away. Jak frowned, considering the question. The fisherman had reclaimed his keys when they got back, so they'd need to go see him if they wanted to get back to Misty Island, and the few cells in the village could be collected any time, so it looked like they needed to head to the jungle.

Turning his head to look in that direction though, he felt denim rub against his ear and frowned again, turning back to glance at Daxter's mystifying pants. They had been, incredibly rude when they left the bird watcher's hut. More so than usual even.

"You need to apologize." Jak decided, giving the pants a pointed nod to indicate what he meant. "Ehhhh?" Daxter whined. The act was after all somewhat foreign to him. Pushing off the rock, Jak started the trek back to the village. "She didn't deserve the way we left." he said, shrugging. Daxter was quiet for a few seconds before speaking. "Eh, fine, alright." Jak wasn't looking, so he missed the gleam that formed in Daxter's eyes.

~SoS~

I was going to do the next scene this chapter, but I'm running low on time, and this feels like a good place to cut it.

As can be seen, I'm not going to go into detail on every single power cell, much less orb. Just the ones that can make for an interesting or amusing mini-scene between the more important bits.

As can also be seen, I'm going to poke fun at a few leaps of logic that you'd normally just accept because it's a game, though, as can be seen, that doesn't always mean I'll change it.


End file.
